Taste
by Pink Star Art
Summary: Suddenly, everything tastes like chocolate to Mello. But too much of something good is NOT good. What's causing this phenomenon? And how does Mello react? Read and find out!
1. MK

Hey everyone, this is my 1st fanfic! I hope everyone enjoys it! I accept praise + criticism, but please don't be too harsh! This is based off of The Chocolate Touch by Catling, an amazing book, but it's NOT a character insertion fic (the characters are inserted as the book characters and wa-lah a story-tch not!). The only similarities should be the candy store. But if it is too similar, go ahead and tell me so I can either fix it, or scrap it. Anyways, enjoy!

I don't own Death Note, The Chocolate Touch, King Lear, Othello, or spaghetti tacos.

**The Chocolate Touch**

Ever have that one thing that brings you absolute joy? That thing that you could never get enough of? Chocolate. That's my special thing. The one thing that always brings me happiness. Well, that and beating Near. That *censored~*! But the best thing would be beating Near, while eating chocolate. Mmm, those deliciously smooth, milky brown chunks that snap and crunch in my mouth with every bite. I'd never have imagined the horror that those innocent little foiled covered pieces of bliss could be.

"Mello. Ya' done yet?" Mumbled my red/brown-headed best friend. Not even bothering to look at me from his place in his seat next to me, tapping away incessantly at his beloved DS. I looked up from my worksheet to look at his. Done. 'Course he was done, this was literature. He was beast at literature. Particularly because without literature, there were no story lines, and with no story lines, no games.

"Tch…Done." I grunted, filling in two more examples of enjambment and juxtaposition from _King Lear_. Man, Shakespeare, that guy knew how to write. This was probably one of his toughest plays though. I had to read it TWICE to fully understand all those motifs of loyalty and themes of fatherly love. Why couldn't it have been as easy as _Othello_, pft, I skimmed that thing and still got in over ten pages of commentary writing for TWO paragraphs. Bottom line: I didn't have to really read it to understand everything. Anyways, I got up and moved to the front of the classroom to turn in my paper. Matt got up and did the same. Most of the other students had left already, having scribbled some stuff down as they were eager to get out of class by the time the bell rang, and get their lunch. Must've been some good stuff for lunch today. But not like the teacher cared. Not like he even looked at our papers. He always gave us full credit, whether we did the work or not, or were even there that day. Idiot teacher. What's a guy like him doing at Wammy's? Sure he could teach, but what's the **** with all the ungraded busy work? Ah well, it's good practice I guess. Anyways it was almost lunch time, so I pulled out my favorite brand of chocolate.

"You're not even going to **wait** for lunch today to eat that shizz?" Matt asked raising an eyebrow. At least, I think he was, it's hard to tell when he wears those goggles all the time. *snap*

"Why should I?" I replied hastily. "S'not like it matters. It'll be in my stomach whether I eat it now or later."

"Sure," he shrugged, "but you should really space yourself. You'll be too full for lunch if you eat it now."

"I'll space if you space."

"Heh?"

"You stop playing game day and night. I stop eating chocolate day and night. We'll just be eating or playing- _day_ instead, then." I stated with a smirk. He and I both knew, some habits were just never meant to be broken.

"…tch." He grinned in silence. "sure, cuz that's ever goin' ta happen." He said nudging my shoulder, barely pushing me to the side, as we entered the cafeteria.

White walls lined with yellow stains from randomly thrown bits of food and black, grey and white floor tiles, along with many long sets of lunch tables made up the Wammyteria. As Matt and I approached the lunch line he put away his game so that he could pick up a tray.

"What's for lunch today you think?" Matt asked me. But it wasn't I who answered.

"Filet mignon or spaghetti tacos, baked potato or beans on the side, choice of apple, orange, or pear sliced in the shape of a fish. Oh and choice of chocolate milk or white milk." Came from the little monotonous white haired midget in front of us.

"Uh thanks, but I was aski-"

"Shut the f* UP NO ONE ASKED YOU! YOU LITTLE PIECE OF- toast."

"What!" Matt questioned, giving me the most incredulous and shocked stare that he could manage while holding a bowl filled with two pieces of spaghetti tacos.

"Toast." I repeated. And just as he was about to ask me again, he paused. Noticing the reason for my self-censorship, and chuckling to himself. Shaking his head and continuing to add the tacos to his tray. Teachers. They take away your free speech, but ya gotta listen to them or else it's: zzzp. Grades and hard work down the toilet.

"I thought so." Stated the sternest teacher in the school. Mr. Peua (pee-you. But don't laugh, or he'll get ya.). He's had it out for me since I laughed at his name the first two minutes of class. He gives me detention for some of the most stupid things, like forgetting to push my chair in when I get up. "If Mr. Mello gives you any trouble Near, feel free to tell me. You're safety will be ensured." And with that he left us. Well, first he gave Near a "nice guy" smile, and then he gave me a death glare, and then he left. I gave Near my own death glare, grabbed my food, shoving it onto my tray, and rushed out after a chuckling Matt.

"Mmm, you know, I absolutely love spaghetti tacos and all, but I could really go for some _toast_ right now." Matt said, giving me a sly grin. Oh, if he were anyone but my best friend. His face would be covered with spaghetti and taco shells right now.

"Shut it. Or I'll stuff this piece of filet mignon that got caught on my taco into your mouth." I threatened, lifting the piece of meat by my fork and dangling it in front of his face while giving my best maniacal grin.

"Oh just eat you two." Said Linda, coming to join our table with her two friends, Jacob and Nesby.

"Who died and made you queen?" Matt retorted.

"You're about too." Linda stated calmly.

"Man, you guys are so lucky! They ran out of spaghetti tacos when it was our turn in the line." Nesby whined.

"Shut it and eat." I snapped. Taking a bite of my delicious taco, following up with a sip of my chocolate milk and a bite of my precious chocolate.

"Gosh Mello, do you ever stop eating chocolate? I mean, you're going to get fat eventually from all that chocolate. And on't yoo everrr get bwored ophh eating chocozatt evyy available minute?" Questioned Linda, while taking a bite of her taco.

"Haha, that's a good one Linda! Mello never gets bored of chocolate. Just like I never get bored of games."

"He got you there Linds! I've never seen these two without a game or chocolate. Well, there are those times when they're grounded, but those are forced and don't count." Laughed Jacob.

"Well Matt changes games, so of course he doesn't get bored! But Mello eats the same brand and kind of chocolate all of the time!" Replied Linda.

"It's his problem, I don't think we should tell him what to do." Said Nesby timidly, just as Mello turned his eyes to look at him.

"Well I'm just saying."

"Please. I'd never get bored. If I could eat chocolate for every meal I would. But Roger won't let me, cuz apparently it doesn't have all of the nutrients I need. Kuh! I'm a freaking genius. I could just go to the lab and infuse my chocolate with all the nutrients I need!" I exclaimed smugly.

"Suuure." Linda smiled, and we all laughed. But I knew, that I seriously would eat chocolate all the time if I could. _DING DING DING_. Wow, time flies fast during lunch. "Alright, bye Matt, Mello. We're going to go watch the older kids play soccer. What're you guys going to do?"

"Out. I gotta uh, get some 'fresh air' into my lungs." Matt said as he threw me a smirk. We both knew fully well that there'd be anything **but** fresh air going into his lungs for the next thirty minutes.

"What about you Mello?"

"Eh. I think I'll just go study some chem. and eat some more chocolate." I said as I threw away the now empty wrapper into the trash and dug into my pocket for another bar. But there was none. Not even a crumb. "Uhhh. Oh shizz. I'm out!" I cried. "Kuh. Guess I'll be heading to the bank to get some money for more chocolate."

"MELLO!" Came a shout from behind us while were exiting the Wammyteria. Roger. Joy. What did he want now?

"What do you want?" I moaned as the others giggled and walked away. Even Matt. That traitor.

"Mr. Peua told me you threatened Near again!" _That *censor~* hole._

"I didn't." I stated nonchalantly, using my angry face.

"No. I don't care if you didn't! We've caught you doing it so many times, but we've never done anything about it because no matter how many times we ask Near, he said he was fine. But it seems that Mr. Peua was right and you're threatening Near to keep quiet than this is the last straw!"

"WTF! I haven't threatened that albino-sheep about keeping quiet." Though now that I think about it, I should.

"Well it doesn't matter. It's Mr. Peua's words over yours. You're a smart kid Mello. I'd hate to see you getting in trouble because of your anger issues-"

"I DON'T HAVE FREAKIN ANGER ISSUES!"

"huuuh. Mello, I hate to do this, but no chocolate. For a week. Not until you stop with all th-"

"EJRHKWEHRWESJD!"

"SILENCIO! This is for your own health too Mello. All that chocolate is bad for you. I expect that you eat all of your lunch, dinner, and breakfast, and no chocolate. I know that you've been leaving a lot of veggies on your plate. That stops now."

"But-"

"NO. BUTS. Don't you ever get tired from playing soccer with only chocolate as a fuel source? You may feel energetic now, but you'll crash." DUH. I knew that already. I'm a freaking genius. Of course I'd know that. I'm here for a reason. And that's why I eat chocolate all the time. So there is no "crash and burn." "Now go. And no chocolate! We'll be watching you. And don't even try to sneak some in your room. We have George watching the video camera we installed in your room constantly after the er- break out incident." He said, giving me the "look." Ha. Break out. Good times. Good times~. And with that he left.

"The freak? Our room's bugged!" I shouted after him. He didn't even look back, just gave a "humph" sound. Stupid old turd. Now what was I supposed to do? Matt. I needed to talk to him. He sometimes knows what to do when his prized possession gets taken away. After all, he has had games taken from him more than chocolate from me. Cuz he used to always play the game version of some books instead of reading them. Genius kid. Course, if he'd actually read them, he'd be second, not me. Actually, I take that back. He's street smart, but not _my_ smart. And off I went. Running out the door of Wammy's down the streets, to the place where I knew Matt would be. At the corner near the play ground, inhaling certain drugs with hobos. Oh. I take back what I said about street smart now. The playground wasn't too far off, about four to five minutes or so. About two minutes into my run, I tripped. Or rather, I coolly tumbled forward and landed on my front side. "Shizz! The F***!" I screamed loudly, looking for the cause of my, uh, "irregular movements." But there was nothing! Only a little something kinda shiny? A coin? Possibly. It was about as big as an American quarter, and it was silveresque. WTF kinda coin is this? I thought. It wasn't like anything I'd seen before. It wasn't British, American, Canadian, Japanese, and a bunch of other countries. I had to do a research project on coins once, so that's how I know. But the odd thing was, on one side was a picture of a fat boy, and on the other-

"M.K." I whispered to myself. Odd. Those were my initials…What should I do, I wondered. Keep it I guess. I could ask Roger about it later and maybe if he didn't know, he could ask L? Possibly. So I held onto the coin, and kept walking towards the playground. But strangely enough, my body automatically took a right turn. Instead of left to the playground. "Eh, I'll go the long way I guess." As I got to the corner, my eyes widened in shock. A candy store, the window display was empty, but I could see the other chocolates and sweets around the store. The room was a pink and white theme, with stripes, typical old school candy store. I couldn't help myself, and went in. The owner looked up from the counter and smiled at me. "Uh-"

"Hello sir, can I help you find something?" he said politely.

"Er, no, sorry. I don't have any money." I said honestly. Not like I could get any anyways-well, I could, no one was tailing me, and they don't have everywhere bugged-unless, this was a trap! That's it! Those *censor*! I quickly scanned the room for a video camera.

"Don't worry Mello, there's no camera here. Oh, no money you said? What's that you have there?"

"Wah? Uh-" I stuttered, looking down at the coin. Too occupied with how he knew I was thinking of cameras to wonder how he knew my name. He gently took the coin from my hand and looked at it carefully.

"Perfect! This is the only kind of money I take! Help yourself to a box!" He exclaimed happily, gesturing to the shiny silver boxes in the store.

"Wah?" I asked. Now too distracted by the large pile of candy boxes in the middle of the store. "One of **those**?" I asked. Really? One tiny coin for a whole box?

"Of course! Go ahead, pick one!" Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did. Sure, I could've gotten into a lot of trouble with Roger, but he wouldn't know…

Apparently, I had spent about an hour looking around the store after I made my purchase. It was about time to go back now, and I hadn't even seen Matt yet. But oh well, I eagerly took my box and ran out of the store, heading to the one place that I knew no one would be watching me. Miss Lucille was a really nice old lady, when Matt and I were younger, we accidentally messed up her flowers while playing ball. So she forced us to replant them, but afterwards she gave us cookies and invited us back. Since then we've gone there for a pretty long time whenever we needed a break from Wammy's. Fortunately she was home. I ran over there and knocked on the door three times. Lucille opened up the door and welcomed me in.

"Ah Mello, it's been awhile. Is Matt not with you? You're both usually together." She pondered.

"Uh no, he's with his er-other friends. I just wanted to hang out away from Wammy's for a while."

"OK then. Come on in." I slowly made my way in as I hid the box in my shirt. "Uh, can I use your bathroom?" I asked. Sly Mello. Very Sly. With a nod of her head she headed off towards the kitchen. I ran to the bathroom and as soon as I went in I locked the door, and pulled the box out. Eager for chocolate, I tore it open, and after layer and layer of tissue and cardboard, I finally reached it. One piece. ONE FREAKIN' PIECE OF CHOCOLATE. Well, made sense. It did cost one coin. I selfishly devoured the entire piece, and it was the best I'd ever tasted. Milky, yummy, and awesome. I threw away the box and walked out.

Back home finally, in my room, getting ready for bed with Matt in our shared room.

"Heard ya got in trouble. No chocolate? How're you going to survive?"

"Dunno." I said, and tossed myself into bed. No chocolate for a while now. I wonder if I can find another coin somewhere. Or maybe beg Miss Lucille for chocolate?

Guh. Mornings. I got up from bed. Saturday. Good, no school today. I moved to the bathroom where Matt had just finished his daily routines. With a light nod at each other we continued on. I reached the sink and turned on the faucet, cupping my hands and filling it with water, I poured it into my mouth to rinse. But it wasn't water in mouth. It was _**chocolate.**_ Yes, chocolate! That sweet milky substance that takes me to heaven! I instinctively swallowed. But on second thought, I wondered about this. "Matt! Did you taste anything weird with the sink water?" Too much chlorine in the water? Can't be though, it tastes a bit different.

"No." He mumbled before collapsing back onto his bed, playing his DS again.

Maybe it was just me? Yeah, right. I took another sip of water. Chocolate! I spit it out, now I was freaked! But water didn't come out, some brown liquidy substance came out! The freak was going on!

So, what do you think? BTW updates will be slow, but don't worry, if something happens and I can't finish the story, I'll surely post something that tells the ending, because I personally hate infinite cliffies.


	2. Beginnings of Regret

Sorry for the lateness. I was busy. Anyways, enjoy!

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Chapter 2

"MATT!" I screamed. "MY BODY'S LEAKING CHOCOLATE!"

"The f***?" He inquired while getting up and walking over to the sink to view my chocolaty mess. "You probably just didn't wash out your mouth last night after eating some chocolate."

"Of course I freakin' brushed my teeth! I'm telling you! I'm leaking chocolate! I must have eaten so much chocolate that my body's finally starting to leak it out! Like alcohol! It's the only logical explanation for this!" I half-screamed at Matt.

"…sure. I'm going to go to breakfast now. Don't eat too much chocolate now, or you won't have room for real food." He chided before starting to exit the room.

"Wait! I can't eat chocolate! Roger banned it…from me…oh god! I'm having withdrawal! The chocolate that's leaking out is a withdrawal symptom!"

"Come on Mello, be realistic. No wonder Near's 1st. Here, drink some water, maybe it'll clear your head." And with that Matt tossed me my water bottle that was beside my bed. I quickly opened it and chugged the contents down, politely ignoring his Near comment. But instead of water going down my throat, it was chocolate.

"Did you put something in this!" I coughed out.

"Huh?"

"Did you spike my drink! Cuz this tastes like chocolate!"

"…Get dressed. Let's go to breakfast before all the food's gone." As shocked as I was at Matt's apathy, I changed, and we headed down. I guess that was a dumb question. Matt would have no reason to spike my drink, and make it taste like chocolate of all things.

Going through the line, I was tempted to get the chocolate pancakes. But Roger was watching. Like a freaking pedo. I got plain pancakes instead, and no syrup. Because apparently, Roger had told the cafeteria people that I could not have sugar of any kind, so they took it from me. I tried to protest, but to no avail. Matt and I went to our usual table, and began to chow down. I took a forkful of pancake and shoved it in my mouth, hoping to get the dry fluff down my throat as soon as possible. The faster you eat, the fuller you get, and I did not want to have to eat much of that plain stuff. But surprisingly, I tasted _chocolate_. Did I grab the chocolate pancakes by mistake? Or maybe chocolate chips got stuck in a plain? I swallowed, and took another piece, not expecting more chocolate, since you'd have to be lucky to get a lot of chocolate in a supposedly plain pancake. It tasted like chocolate though! Lucky? Or maybe this had something to do with this morning. I carefully cut a piece of pancake, and then scrutinized it for any chocolate before eating it. Chocolate. It tastes like chocolate. But this was good. Very good. If I couldn't eat chocolate because of Roger's stupid demands, then I could still eat it. Matt, noticing my odd behavior, decided to question me.

"What, are you doing?"

"It tastes like chocolate! Taste this! It tastes like chocolate." I forced a piece of my pancake into his mouth. Maybe I was just lucky enough to get chocolately plain pancakes. And hey, this was the only way to check that theory. Even though he was surprised, and tried to push my hand away, I forced that sucker down his throat. "Doesn't it taste like chocolate?"

In between his choking fits he managed to utter "no. You're-cough-freaking delusional. Withdrawals getting to you."

"Maybe it is…" I muttered before taking another bite of pancake. It still tasted like chocolate though! So I spit it out. Onto my tray.

"Ughhh gross man! The Freak is that!" Matt cried, pointing at the squishy brown mess that I had just upchucked onto my tray.

"My pancake. It even looks like chocolate! It looks like actual solid chocolate! Just chewed up!"

"But your pancake was plain! How?"

"I dunno." I whispered. Plain pancakes went into my mouth. Delicious chocolate came out. Happiness. Bliss. And all those other synonyms. "This is amazing! I can turn anything in my mouth into chocolate!" By now, all trace of fear was gone. I could finally have all the chocolate I could want and the teachers would be none the wiser.

"Uhh, shouldn't you be worried? Maybe you should see a doctor…"

"I was this morning. And you didn't believe me. Why would a doctor?"

"You said you were LEAKING chocolate. How am I supposed to believe that!"

"Dunno." I muttered, taking a sip of my orange juice from its straw. Obviously, the juice tasted like chocolate too. "Come on," I said, quickly scarfing the rest of my food down, while enjoying the chocolaty taste of course, "let's go to the park! Maybe push a few kids off the swings…" And thus, I dragged Matt off, who was struggling futilely to get back to his pancakes.

_After playing in the park, and causing mischief for poor innocent children._

"Man! I'm beat." I panted, after successfully jumping out from behind a bush to frighten a kid around who looked around 15 years old. He peed his pants while running off. I laughed. I'm such an awesome 12 year old.

"Hey, wasn't that that Yagami kid? Ya know, the mama's boy whose family is visiting from Japan this month."

"…"

"The one we met here a few weeks ago, when we were doing homework. And he told us we did a problem wrong. So you tried to jump him, and he ran towards his mom?"

"…"

"So his mom apologized, and she said her name was something Yagami, and her family was on vacation from Japan. And then she told us that the kid's name was like, Lightbulb or something? And asked if he could play with us for a while. But we told her it was late and that we should get going. And then left?"

"Oh hey. You're right. Ah well. Pass me some water." I demanded of Matt, who tossed me a bottle nonchalantly. _Some ice cold water would really be nice right now_, I thought. But, ice water didn't go down my throat. Yup, you guessed it. Chocolate. "Uggh, chocolate!" I whined.

"Woah, you just whined about chocolate! That's a first."

"mmm" I mumbled back. At least the chocolate was liquid, and cold.

"Let's get going. It's almost lunch." I nodded in agreement and started to put the cap back on the bottle. _**Snap**__. _We heard. We look at my now broken bottle. But instead of seeing a missing piece of plastic, we found a missing piece of _chocolate_ on the ground. And more surprisingly, it was the missing part from a completely chocolate bottle. We both just stared in awe. "Your bottle's chocolate."

"Duh. But I didn't put the whole thing in my mouth! I just touched the tip!"

"Well whatever's wrong with you, you just turned the entire bottle into chocolate!"

"F***."

* * *

I felt like something's off about this chapter, but I don't know what...


	3. No End

Sorry for the lateness. School and all. This chapter's a bit rushed and short, so sorry about that. I needed a good place to stop. And unfortunate to say, but the story's coming to an end soon. Probably 1 or 2 more chapters until the end. And just so you all know, more reviews help me to want to write, which makes for faster updates. :)

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Chapter 3

For some odd reason, everything my mouth touched turned into chocolate. First the bottle, then when we got back to Wammy's, it was a pear, milk carton, salad, and whatever else that touched my lips.

"What did you do to cause this?" Asked Matt a little irked, pacing around the classroom we were experimenting in which was now filled with broken pieces of chocolate (Most of which I had thrown against the wall in anger for becoming chocolate).

"The F would I know!" I shouted back at him, while I was aggressively tapping my feet against the floor as I leaned against the wall, trying to think of how to solve the problem that was-shockingly-chocolate.

"Maybe you did something to upset the choco-Gods?"

"Like what! Having to NOT eat chocolate because that **** Roger forced me not too! Who also made it so that I can't even try to find what the F is wrong with me in my own room!" I angrily crushed what used to be a stapler, but was now chocolatefied, with my feet.

"Er, maybe we should-" Matt started, but before he could even finish, I finished for him.

"No. No way in H*** are we asking HIM for help."

"But-"

"I got it!"

"Huh?"

"That creepy coin and store!"

"What?" Questioned Matt, giving me that look that just screamed _is there something wrong with you? _And so I relayed to him my story about the candy store.

"So you think a piece of chocolate caused all of **this**?" Matt asked, gesturing to the entire room filled with crushed chocolate.

"Yeah!"

"Well, you get chocolate for a coin, there's bound to be something wrong with it."

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to go to that store and ask that old guy what was up with that chocolate..." And Matt probably thought: _Wow, he's being really calm_- "so that I can rip his balls off afterwards!" I screamed maniacally, smiling one of those creepy smiles. _Nevermind._ Matt must've thought.

"Okay, so let's go then. Uh, after we get this room cleaned."

"Leave it to me." I said, and walked out of the room, leaving Matt with his mouth open as he was about to call me back from leaving. I looked out of the room and found what I needed, two little brats walking down the hall. "Hey, you two!" I shouted at them. Promptly, causing them to turn towards me. "I'll give you a chocolate trophy if you clean up this room for me." I said, and walked back into the room, grabbed one of the trophies lining the wall, and licked it. Gross, I know, but I can't go around being known for dead deals. Then the deals stop being made. The trophy instantly turned into chocolate. The two boys came in then, and looked around the room with looks of disgusts on their face.

"What? Did you and your friend have a pooping competition?" Remarked one of the brats smugly, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

"No." I managed to get out while keeping myself composed. "We crushed chocolate pieces."Upon glancing at me and then the chocolate trophy their eyes widened in glee.

"I thought Roger banned chocolate from you!" Questioned the other brat.

"He did, so Mello and I decided to destroy his leftover chocolates to help him quit." Matt lied easily, whipping out his DS to look more casual. "So you two in or out?"

After quickly exchanging glances at the room and the trophy, they replied "yes." And Matt and I left, with me shoving the trophy into their greedy little hands. We heard one of them say something about selling the chocolate pieces to unknowing people for cash. "...We should've taken their idea..." I moaned.

"Come on, let's just go."

-in front of the candy store-

We were in front of the candy store. Or at least, where it should've been... "WTF! Where is it!" I screamed, scrutinizing the environment that was an empty lot filled with trash.

"Are you sure it was here?" Matt asked.

"Yes, exactly!" I yelled frantically. My only chance at hope: gone.

"I think you're getting delusional." I quickly gave him one of my signature glares. "...I guess we should look around, see if it moved." We traveled around the neighborhood for the next 2 hours, asking people about the shop, only to receive "no's" and "kids, can't get enough candy these days."

"There's nothing here! WHY!" I nearly sobbed.

"Dunno. But we've got no other choice now. We should go ask HIM." Matt suggested. I quickly rejected his idea, and tried to take a sip from a nearby fountain. To no avail, as the sticky sweet substance swished around my mouth. I was so exasperated, that I finally decided to give in to Matt's idea. We'd have to go ask HIM for help. This had turned out to be the worst few days ever. 


	4. Magic and Dreams

**Sorry for the long update, but here's the last chapter! Don't forget to review! And thanks for reading!** ~Star Art

Chapter 3

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So what do I freakin' do!" I shouted towards the black, leather chair. Matt and I were in a relatively light colored room in Wammy's, with toys scattered about.

"..." The figure responded. Well, the only real response that he made, was moving to sit up better in the chair, revealing a small tuff of white hair.

"Near..." I strained out, trying not to yell at the one person who could probably get me out of this mess.

"Well, since you seem to be adverse towards serious medical research on your 'condition,' I suggest that you find whatever did this to you." Near stated monotonously, referring to a few hours prior, where we had taken blood, skin, and attempted-saliva and chocolate samples. To no avail, as everything turned up normal, even the chocolate samples. The only other thing to do medically was not an option. It would require us to go to large doctor firms for the equipment, and telling them that I could mysteriously turn anything to chocolate was not a good idea.

"We already told you, it's the chocolate I bought. And when we tried to find the place again, it was gone!" I once again shouted at him.

"Well, look again." Near stated matter of factly. But before I could lash back, Matt decided to interrupt me.

"Maybe we missed it? Took a wrong turn? I mean, those buildings looked all the same." Matt suggested.

"That was the spot! It was! I know it!"

"Calm down Mello. It's 7am and we haven't slept since yesterday. You're just a bit cranky."

"_A bit_? I am more than _a bit_! I've only eaten or drunken chocolate for the past few days! I desperately neeeeed water! Or I'll die of dehydration!" I shouted, storming around the room over to Matt, who was situated in a corner playing his DS, sitting criss-cross. But, as soon as I was within a few feet of Matt, one of Near's toy bouncy balls rolled over to us slightly. Slightly enough to trip me, causing me to land face first on Matt's legs.

"Oh." Near muttered, "sorry 'bout that."

I grumbled in response. I was too tired to seriously yell at him. I barely had enough energy from the chocolate and lack of fruits, vegetables, etc. I should've known it would be impossible to survive on only chocolate, it doesn't provide enough energy. I pushed myself up and glanced up at Matt to see if he was okay, but before I could ask him, I froze. He looked- in shock? What was wrong? "M-Matt? What's wrong? Is everything-" and then I saw it. What had made Matt freeze. _The chocolate._ His clothes were turning into chocolate! And it was creeping up him. His pants were already completely chocolate-tized, and now his shirt was beginning to turn! He wasn't even moving.

"It's getting worse it seems." Near remarked, and Matt and I turned to face him. I gave him a look that asked _why?_ "Dunno." He responded. "But you didn't touch his shirt, just the pants, and it all is turning to chocolate. This started about a few hours ago, and if my assumptions are right, it'll keep getting worse until everything's turned to chocolate." Near opened his mouth to say more, but stopped abruptily, staring towards me in horror. No, not me, Matt? I whipped myself around, and wished I hadn't.

"MATT!" He was chocolate! His _face_ was _chocolate_. He was all chocolate! Like a chocolate statue, frozen with a look of horror on his face, the beeping DS the only sign of Matt having been alive and sitting there. "Matt?" I questioned. It couldn't have been him, he must have switched it out to scare me! I slowly began to reach out towards him...

"Stop." Near commanded. I froze. "You touch him, he falls to pieces, and we can't bring him back."

"N-no. This isn't Matt. This is just a cheap imitation. Matt left, he's somewhere else. H-he's hiding. Not funny Matt! Get out here!" I screamed in frustration. I'd had it. I slowly backed away from the chocolate statue that was my best friend. And I ran. I ran out of the room, out of Wammy's, away from anything and everything. People tried to stop me as I ran, telling me it was against the rules. Linda even asked me what was wrong. But I ignored them all. Even Near hadn't said anything to me when I ran out. I didn't care if people stared, if I was thirsty and wanted water. I could only think of the thing that used to be Matt. I ran for who knows how long. Eventually, I stopped. Gasping, I started to look around to see where I had ran too. And there it was! The shop where I had bought that atrocious box of chocolate from. It was back, back at the corner where earlier Matt and I had come, but saw nothing. The shop looked different. The once empty display window was filled with a broken chocolate bottle, a chocolate pear, milk carton, and piece of lettuce, a chocolate trophy, and lastly, a chocolate _Matt_.

I burst into the store huffing. "What is this! What did you do to me old man!" I screamed at the shop keeper, who had just come out of the back room.

"I didn't do anything. You did this to yourself." He merely stated.

"No! You sold me that chocolate!"

"_You_ bought the chocolate." He responded. And he was right. Maybe it was my tiredness and lack of energy, or maybe I was just too depressed from the loss of my friend, but I didn't argue.

"M-maybe it was kinda my fault, but you have to change Matt back! Change him back! PLEASE, I'm begging you!" I choked out. Choked? I was nearly crying. Was I really that upset? Yes, yes I was.

"Good. I see, I see your remorse, and that you have learned your lesson. Go home, and it'll all be back to normal."

"I don't trust you! How can you just make everything normal again! How can you fix Matt! It's not logical! THIS isn't logical!" I shouted, waving my arms towards the windows.

"Neither is eating chocolate all the time, my boy." The shopkeeper chuckled. "Sometimes, you have to know when to stop. Chocolate is a delicious thing, but it's frequently abused. I'm glad you've learned your lesson, boy. Now go, and I hope you think twice before eating too much chocolate again. Everything will be back to normal, except your eating habits, I hope."

"Mmm" I grumbled in acceptance. And with one last glance at the store I walked out of the shop, muttering "if you don't turn my friend back, you're dead," and stalking away.

/

**At Wammy's House.**

If that old man doesn't hold up on the deal, he's dead! I thought, while marching into Wammy's.

"Mello!" Everyone shouted while running at me. "Where've you been? What's wrong?" They all asked. But before I could answer, if I was going to answer, Roger broke through the crowd.

"Mello! Where have you been! Where did you go this morning! We've been searching for you all day!" Roger exclaimed angrily.

I simply looked up and muttered "sorry. Won't happen again," and kept walking towards where I had last seen Matt- Near's room. Roger was too stunned to say anything more, and the kids were whispering useless things like "wow! I can't believe he just apologized for something!" or "he didn't even yell!" Idiots.

/

**In front of Near's room**

Near's room was open, but when I went in, no one was there. So I headed to my own, to find that empty too, and, too tired to do anymore, I passed out on my bed.

/

A voice called out to me, "HEY! Wake up! What's up?" Startled from my slumber, I shot up, and was shocked.

"Matt!" I exclaimed, and bolted at him, giving him a man-hug—kinda. "You're back!"

"Huh?" He answered, "Was I gone?" He had a clearly confused look on his face.

"You were chocolate? I turned everything to chocolate, and turned you too!"

"What are you talking about Mello? Has the chocolate withdrawal finally gotten to you?" He asked me, a curious look on his face.

"W-what?"

"Here, maybe this'll help." Matt uttered, pulling a bar of chocolate from his pocket and handing it to me.

"NO! NO MORE! NO THANKS!" I shouted at him. "No more chocolate! Water, I need water! And carrots and celery and fruit!" Matt just raised an eyebrow in response and stared.

"Did something happen?"

"How do you not remember it! Now let's go!" I grabbed Matt and ran down to the Wammyteria. I ran straight to the lunch line, which was mostly empty, since lunch had ended a while ago. All the good food was gone, and only the super healthy choices were left. Perfect. I grabbed every colorful thing I could, paid (to the astonishment of the cashier), and ran out. Sitting down, I began to scarf everything down my throat. "It doesn't taste like chocolate!" I happily exclaimed.

"'Course it doesn't, Mello." Matt mused. How could he not remember what had happened? Or, had it not happened at all? A dream perhaps? _Was _it all just a dream?

"I see you're back to normal." A voice from behind us said. We turned around to see Near.

"What's back to normal?" Matt asked. "Everything's not normal, Mello's acting all weird. Look! He's eating healthy, and he refused chocolate!"

"I wasn't referring to his behavior, I was referring to him. And it's perfectly normal that he wouldn't want chocolate after that ordeal." And with that, Near left.

"Huh? What was that about, Mello?" Matt questioned.

"Err, later." I simply stated. Maybe it was a dream, but if Near knew that something was wrong, then it must mean that, everything was real?

/

**At the chocolate shop.**

"Squeaky clean," The old shop keeper stated, putting the rag that he had just used to clean a now blank gold coin, "and ready for the next child."

**End.**

**Any questions or comments, review!**


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